A MOVEMENT OF PEACEMAKERS OVERCOMING THE EFFECTS OF WAR ON WOMEN

ABOUT US

One Million Thumbprints (1MT) is a grassroots campaign seeking to catalyze a groundswell of people focused on overcoming the effects of war against women through storytelling, advocacy, and fundraising. The volunteer peacemakers of One Million Thumbprints envision a world where women are free from the fear of violence, oppression, and poverty caused by war.

Our story begins with Esperance but belongs to women everywhere. In 2012, Belinda Bauman and a group of women met Esperance while visiting the Democratic of Congo. Esperance watched her husband die at the hand of rebels. She was violently raped and would have died if her sisters hadn’t rescued her. Across a blank sheet of paper, Esperance, who can’t read or write, had someone write the words: “Tell the world.” Then she stamped her thumbprint underneath. Esperance's thumbprint became Belinda’s mandate: violence against women in war is violence against me. One Million Thumbprints invites all of us to join Esperance by helping her, and thousands like her, to stem the tide of violence in tangible ways. One thumbprint becomes a hundred, a thousand, even a million strong.

When you give your thumbprint you join Esperance in fighting one of the most difficult problems we face in the world today— violence against women caught in conflict. One Million Thumbprints began with one thumbprint, and will end with millions. Bur your thumbprint is not just a message of solidarity. Each time we reach a milestone of thumbprints collected—1,000, 5,000, 10,000 and more— your mark will advocate for tangible change by the international community.

When you give a gift you invest in a movement of peacemakers bringing tangible solutions. Our implementing partners lead grassroots programs in three of the most dangerous nations to be a woman: Congo, South Sudan, and Iraq/Syria. Your gift will bring change now even as we advocate for more.

“Violence against women is violence against us. Join the movement now.